Mika is ‘happy’ he can speak openly about his sexuality
Mika feels "happy" now that he’s able to talk openly about his sexuality.
The ‘Happy Ending’ hitmaker insist it was always an inside "joke" with his fans that he was gay as they could tell from his song lyrics and he still finds it "funny" how the media was oblivious to the fact he’s always been literal about his sexual preference.
Asked if he’s glad he came out, Mika – whose real name is Michael Holbrook Penniman, Jr. – told Prestige Hong Kong magazine:
"Yeah, but I never didn’t. That’s why it was this really funny, tender joke among my fans who had read every one of my lyrics and it was just so obvious. But to the people who care politically, I don’t know. From a political point of view, from a media point of view, the one thing that makes me happy about having more clarity and being more vocal when it comes to sexuality is that firstly it’s really interesting and it’s really inspiring."
The 32-year-old singer only felt he could talk more freely about being gay when he knew he had "nothing to hide" from.
He added: "It’s not an easy thing to process for any person in the world, and it has consequences for dozens of people in each person’s life – and therefore it has to be addressed. Sometimes you do it with tenderness, you do it with time, and other times you have to do it quite brutally. But whatever it is you need to do, it will have consequences. So I just needed time to live and to make sure that when I did talk more openly about sexuality, it was from a place where I honestly felt like all my ducks were in order and I had nothing to hide or make me nervous."
Mika was quick to defend himself when asked about being "coy" with his sexuality when he was thrust into the spotlight in his early 20s.
The pop star wanted to feel more "comfortable" with himself before telling the world, as doing it when he was feeling vulnerable would have been "very destructive".
On answering the question, he said: "No, no, not coy – human. There’s a big difference. ‘Coy’ is calculated. The one thing that everyone has to understand when it comes to sexuality is that there is no consultation process, there is no formula, there is no recipe. Just because someone is asking you the question under the spotlight at the age of 22 doesn’t mean that there is an answer. When you’re personally more comfortable with your situation, and you’ve aligned your cards and dealt with it responsibly, then from that standpoint you can go and be more public. But you should never do it the other way around because it can be very destructive."
